Can R.I. keep Hasbro toys from leaving the state? Pawtucket has an idea. – The Boston Globe

Tasked with helping the city craft a pitch to Hasbro, Kashala touted the building’s location, which is visible from Interstate 95, centrally located in downtown, and is close to the new Pawtucket-Central Falls Transit Center that serves as a stop on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s commuter rail. Any redevelopment of the site, he said, would also complement the Tidewater Landing Redevelopment — the future home of the Rhode Island FC soccer club.

Hasbro “could have a big symbolic presence,” said Kashala.

The news comes a week after Hasbro executives confirmed that the company was exploring new options for its headquarters, which has been located in Rhode Island since its founding in 1923 by the Hassenfeld family. It’s one of the few publicly traded companies based in Rhode Island, and is the corporation behind classics like Monopoly, Nerf, Mr. Potato Head, Twister, and Play-Doh.

The company owns its 343,000-square-foot office on Newport Avenue in Pawtucket, which executives said they are ready to move on from for new digs in the Greater Boston area.

“Our Pawtucket building is full of charm and history, but it is also showing its age,” Christian “Chris” P. Cocks wrote in his message to employees on Sept. 16. Cocks said in that same message that any potential move wouldn’t take place “for at least 18 months” and that none of the details are final.

Hasbro executives have already toured multiple Boston office buildings and informally met with Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey’s office.

Hasbro employs approximately 5,500 people globally, with roughly 1,000 based in Rhode Island. If Hasbro moved out of Rhode Island, it would dramatically shift Pawtucket’s economic landscape. Yet Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien was left out of Governor Dan McKee and Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi’s initial meeting with Cocks on Sept. 19.

In July, Pawtucket started soliciting bids from developers for what is known as the Downtown Gateway Project, which centers around the former Apex building. On Wednesday, the city is expected to announce that it received four proposals, which the city’s administration, planning, and commerce departments will begin reviewing next week, Pawtucket spokeswoman Grace Voll said.

The initial solicitation did not ask developers to envision the site to include Hasbro’s headquarters.

If the former Apex building is not razed, it’s not yet clear what the total investment would be for Hasbro to use the existing building. Kashala could not provide cost estimates or describe the conditions of the property.

As one of Rhode Island’s largest corporations, officials have previously attempted to court Hasbro to stay in Pawtucket.

In 2018, when Hasbro executives considered renovating or completely vacating their headquarters in Pawtucket, Grebien made a similar pitch to Hasbro and the Pawtucket Red Sox (now the Worcester Red Sox) with the hope that both institutions would move their operations to the city’s downtown. City leaders wanted Hasbro to build a new office complex just beyond the outfield wall of a new PawSox stadium. The mayor’s presentation claimed that Hasbro becoming part of the greater ballpark redevelopment area could save the company up to $10 per square foot each year. Neither project ever came to fruition.

Under former governor Gina M. Raimondo, state officials had attempted to pitch the Industrial Trust Company Building in Providence (which is more commonly referred to as the “Superman” building) and the former I-195 land to Hasbro.

Over the last year, Hasbro has shaved down its local workforce, from 1,400 full-time employees in 2023 to 1,000 in 2024, and gave up the lease on its office in downtown Providence. In the last three months of 2023, Hasbro lost $1.06 billion.

In the state’s latest effort to keep the company in Pawtucket, Kashala acknowledges surrounding cities — including Providence — could begin a bidding war by handing out incentives or other forms of tax breaks.

“The goal should really be, how do we come together in this initial response where we take Hasbro leaving the state off the table,” Kashala said.

Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com. Follow her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.